People claim that Shakespeare coined thousands of words. It’s erroneous
to say Shakespeare must have coined a word because the first citation we
have is from his work.

Shakespeare wrote plays for people from all walks of life. These plays
were written to be watched. While reading, one has the luxury of going back
and re-reading to try to understand a new word from the context. Not so,
in a performance.

What has happened is that the Bard’s works have survived far better
than a love letter or a pamphlet by a man on the street. To summarize,
first documented use doesn’t necessarily mean a first use of the word.
It may not even be the first documented use of the word. It’s just that
that’s the earliest we have unearthed, so far.

That said, there are some words whose coiners we know about. This week
we’ll see five such words.

kinesics

PRONUNCIATION:

(kuh/ky-NEE-siks/ziks)

MEANING:

noun: The study of body movements, such as gestures or facial expressions, as a form of communication.